Vehicle coupler



A. L. SCHULLER VEI-IICLE COUPLER Nov. 6, 1934.

INVENTOR A! red. lc/z aller ATTORNEYS v Filed Sept. 6, 1933 bail.

Patented Nov. 6, 1934 PATENT OFFI(IE VEHICLE COUPLER Alfred L. Schuller,Upper Montclair, N. J., as-

signor to Easton Gar & Construction Company, Easton, Pa., a corporationof Pennsylvania Application September 6, 1933, Serial N0. 688,274

7 Olaims. (GI. 280-3315) This invention relates to oouplers forvehicles.

The type of coupler involved is applicable 110 Vehic1es generally, butis widely used for industrial trucks and trailers such as are used. infactories, warehouses, etc.

The general type of coupler is one in which one end of a vehicle carriesa bumper block having a horizontally positionecl bail; and ehe vehicleend to be coupled to it carries a bifurcated Tm draw bar that straddlesthe bai1, top and bottom,

and is latched thereto. It is desiralole, of course, that the bail beable 110 swing up=wardly and downward1y to faoilitate the passage of atrain of coupled cars over bumps and from a horizontal floor '1g'r, toinclines, and vice versa. On the daher band,

' io is desirable that on an uncoupled car the bail should remain in asuitable fixecl position, so that a draw bar may make couplingengagement With it without manual control or manipulation of theCouplers of this generml type have been 'made in which the bail wassupported in a horizontal Position (when uncoupled) by stop lugs whichproject beneath the bail. 'I'his holds th'e bai1 l 5 nicely forcou1aling and uncoupling; and it also permits the bail 110 swingupwardly, as is desirable when a train of coupled cars passes from ahorizontal floor 130 an upward inoline. I-Iowever, this constructiondoes not'perm'it the bail '30 to swing downwardly, as is desiralo1e wheha train nasses (for example) from the top of an upward incline to ahorizontal floor.

Couplers have also been built with the' bail pivoted and socounterbalanced that the bai1 5 Will stand in horizontal position whenthe cars are standing uncoupled on a level floor. 'I'his permits upwardand downward inclination of the bail during pulling of coupled cars, butdoes not meet-all coupling requirements. Gar movement preparatory tocoupling may starb the ball swinging like a pendulum, making itnecessary to manually arresb or control the bai1 during coupling. Alsowhen an attempt is made to couple cars standing on an inclined plane thebail stands horizontally with respeot to the earth, instead ofparalleltothe inclined plane, so that the bail is not in the correctposition for coupling.

An object of the present invention is to provide a coupler having acoupler element (e. g.

a bail) which can be tilted upwardly and downwardly during transit ofcoupled vehicles, but in which the coupling element is automaticallyhold. in a suitable fixed position (with respect to the vehicle) whenthe vehi 3le 15 uncoupled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coupler whichautomatically holds a vertioally movable coupling element in a. fixed.position (With respeot to the vehicle) when the vehicle is uncoupledwithout permitting pendulum-like swinging of the ooupling element.

Another object of the invention is to provide a self-oontained unitarycoupler whioh permits upward and downwarcl tilting of the oouplingelement when coupled vehicles are in transit, but which automaticallyholds the coupling element in suitable coupling position when thevehicles are uncoupled.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view showing a car end equipped with a couplerembodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the coup1e1 taken approximately on the line22 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 to 7 oonstitute an explocled view of the coupler except thatduplicate parts are shown only once. Fig. 3 shows the coupler body; Fig.

4 the bail; Fig. 5 a weight associated With the bail; Fig. 6 a pin forattaohing the bai1 to the coupler body; and Fig. 7 a cotter pin three ofwhich are used.

Fig. 8 is an elevation, partly in section showing a draw bar suitablefor attachment 120 the coup1er shown in Fig. 1.

A one piece malleable cast or cast steel coupler body 11 has a bumperportion consisting of diverging vertica1 wingsf 12 anal 13 which areseparated a1: their rear ends by a vertical web 14. The body 11 ishollow, and the opposite sides cf it have identical cut-out areas 15which provide sockets 16 and 17, separated by a nose 18. T0 save weightand facilitate access 110 the inside 'of the coupler, the top of thebody 11 is cut away ab 19 but may be closed by a 1ight name plate 20.

A cast steel bail 21 is adapted to straddle the body 11, and its ends22, 22 are provided With flanges 23, 23 which cover the side cut-outs 15in the body 11. Thebail ends are each provided With a pair of apertures24, 24 which receive a pair of transverse pins 25, 25 that lie in thesackecs 16 and 17 of the coupler body. A weight 26 is placed. within thecoupler body; and in assembly one of the pins 25 is passed through abore 27 in the weigh and the other pin 25 is passed throgh a groove 28in the weight. The weight is provicled with vertically aligned recesses29, 29, so that a cotter pin 30 can be inserted as shown in Fig. 2 tohold the weight centrally on the pins 25 25. 'Ihe ends of the bai1 arecotter pinned at 31, 31 to the ends of the pins 25, 25.

Fig. 8 shows one of various draw bars which may be attachecl to the bail21. The dravv bar has a bifurcated end which provides an upper leg anala lower leg 36 which straddle the bail 21 top ancl bottom. A springpressecl latch 37 automatically attaches the draw bar to the bail whenthe end cf the draw bar is thrust against the bumper block. The latch 37may be provided with a pedal 38 to facilitate raising of the latch foruncoupling.

It will be understood that one end of each car is provided With acoupler as shown in Fig. 1 and that the other end of each car isprovided with a draw bar such as.shown in Fig. 8. The power driven trucker tractor for pulling a train of cars is provided with the draw bar.

'Ihe draw bar shown has the advantage that no part cf it projeets abovethe car floor, where it might interfere with sliding of freight ofi' ofthe car in unloading. The only part of the coupler which projects abovethe car floor is attachment flange 40, which is bolted at 41 to the top42 of the metal car frame. This flange and bolting may, however, beomitted, the coupler being attached to the car 'oy bolts 43 (one shown)which pass through the vertical web 44 of the coupler bocly and thevertical web 45 of the car frame. These bolts may also pass throughinternal strap 46 which is part of the supporting structure for the carfloor 47.

It will be seen that the bail 21, the plus 25, 25, and the weight 26constitute a system which can be tilted relative to the body 11 of thecoupler. This system may be described as a tilting coupling elementsystem 01' as a tilting bail system. When a train of cars passes fromhorizontal to an upward incline, the bail tilts upwardly on the rear pin25, the front pin 25 beinglifted upwarclly in its Socket. As the trainpasses from the top of the incline back to horizontal, the bail tiltsdownvvarclly about the for ward pin 25, the rear pin being lifted in-its socket.

The bail system is supported. ab four spaced points; and the mass of thebailsystem (taken as a whole) is so distributed that its center ofgravity lies on a vertical line passing through the area marked off bythe four supporting points. The four points of support are provided bythe two pairs of sockets 16 anal 17 (dupli'oateol on' opposite sides ofthe booly 11). These sockets receive the plus 25, 25 near the ends ofthe pins. The center of gravity of the bail system (bail 21, pins 25,25, weight 26 and cotter plus 30 and 31) lies in a vertical plane thatpasses between pins 25, 25. Thus when a car is uncoupled, the bailsystem is in stab le equilibrium; and if the bail 21 be displaced fromits horizontal position (relative t0 the coupler) it automaticallyreturns to the position shown in 2, without any pendulum-like swingihg.If the cars to be couplecl are on an incline, the bail is held in thesame position relative to the coupler, i. e., the bail stanols parallelto the floor whether the floor be horizontal er inclined. Tims, when acar is uncoupled the bail is automatically held in coupling position sothat coupling can be readily effected without manual control ormanipulation of the coupler.

In the preferred form shovvn in the drawing, the center of gravity ofthe bail system lies below the plane of the axes of pins 25, 25, butsince there are f0ur points of support, this is n0t essential. Forexample, the construction will function in a similar manner if the bailSystem be turned up-side-down, as the bail will still be supported instable equilibrium, similar to the equilibrium of a four-legged table.

I have disclosed the best form in which I have contemplated applying theinvention, but sinne various modifications may be made, the disclosureis to be considered as illustrative and 'not as limiting.

l-laving described my invention, I claim:

1. A vehicle coupler comprising a body portion; and a tilting couplingelement system supported. by said. body portlon and capable of beinginclined upwardly and downwardly with respect to the body portion, saidtilting system including a pair of laterally spaced pins transverselyengaging said body portion, and a coupling element attachecl to.both ofthe pins; said tilting system having its center of gravity below a planepassing through the axes of said pins and lying in a vertical planepassing betvveen the axes of said pins.

2. A vehicle coupler comprising a body portion; a pair 0f laterallyspaced pins extending transversely cf said body portion, the bodyportion supporting the pins adjacent to their ends while pe'rmittingeach pin to be moved. bodily upward; and a bail engaging both of saidpins adjacent to each end thereof.

3. A vehicle coupler comprising a bocly portion; a pair of laterallyspaced pins extending transversely cf said body portion, the bodyportion supporting the pins acljacent totheir ends while. permittingeach pin to be moved bodily upwarcl; a bail engaging both of said pinsadja cent to each end thereof; and. a weight n1ovable with the bail.

4. A vehicle coupler comprising a hollow body portion having means t0attach it t0 the end of a vehicle; a coupling element attached to thebody portion, the attachment permitting the coupling element to betilted upwardly and downvvardly With respect t0 said body portion; andmeans within the bodyportion operative t0 return the coupling elementwhen released. t'o a fixed position with respect t0 said body portion,regardless of whether the body portion be positioned' horizontally 01"-inclined. upwardly er dovvnwardly.

5. A unitary vehicle c0upler comprising a bocly portion having means toattach the entire coupler structure to the end of a vehicle; a bailattached to the body portion, the attachment permitting the bail to betilt'ed upwardly and downwardly with respect to the body portion; andmeans carried at least immediately by said body portion to return thebail when released to a fixed position With respect to said bodyportion, regardless of vvhether the body portion be positionedhorizontally er inclined upwardly er downwardly.

6. A vehicle coupler comprising a hollow body portion having two pairsof pivot-forming means, one pair of the pivot-forming means beinglocated forwardly of the other pair, and the two pivot-forming means ofeach pair being in axial alignrnent at opposite sides cf the bodyportion; and atilting coupling element system having two pairs ofpivot-forming means normally engzlging the respective pivot-formingmeans of the body portiorl to support the coupling' element system, andselectively cooperating pivotally, pair for pair, With the pivot-formingmeans of the body portion, the tilting system being capable of beinginclined upwardly by pivoting about one set of a pair of pivotsconnecting said member and said body, one 0f said pivots being efiectivewhen the draft force an said member is downward a.nd the other cf saidpivots being effective when the draft force an said member is upward.

ALFRED L. SCHULLER.

